Police cite knucklehead factor in weekend graffiti
By Zack Creglow
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
ROCKFORD — A rash of graffiti marked on personal property in centralized
locations of Rockford and Machesney Park has officials wondering whether the
spots were targeted by gangs or just the work of people — most likely posers and
youths — without the use of cars.
Cars and houses on at least nine Rockford streets were tagged Saturday night. On
Sunday, 24 doors at the soon-to-be demolished Machesney Park Mall were defaced
with white-supremacist symbols.
Officials believe they are unrelated incidents but ask residents to look out for
suspicious behavior.
Machesney Park: Village employees will clear the building after 15 days. A
letter will first be sent to the resident or building owner, requesting that
they remove the graffiti within 15 days or the village will do the cleaning at
no charge.
“There should be a concern of whether it’s gang graffiti or whether it’s just
vandalism because people want to know what’s going on in their neighborhood,”
Rockford Deputy Police Chief Greg Lindmark said. “When they wake up and see
graffiti and mailboxes knocked down, they should show concern.”
Gang graffiti was sprayed late Saturday on garage doors, houses and cars in the
3800 block of Larson Avenue, the 1400 block of Kingsway Avenue, the 500 block
of Westchester Avenue, the 4800 block of Creekview Road, the 1400 block of
National Avenue and the 4000 block of Dempster Avenue.
Bill Keith, a superintendent of Rockford’s Public Works Department in charge of
graffiti removal, said the number of incidents is not unusual. What is, though,
is that a string of residences and other personal property south of Alpine Hills
Golf Club were tagged.
His crew was out Monday cleaning off the graffiti. Rockford provides free
graffiti removal from buildings, but cars are cleaned at the owner’s expense.
“We average on a Monday morning at least 20 calls” for graffiti vandalism, Keith
said. “The only thing that made this unusual was there were four successive
buildings hit in a row” in the neighborhood near the golf club.
The neighborhoods where the buildings were vandalized are not considered havens
for gang activity, leading police officials to believe that the vandalism was
the work of youths or copycats who are gang-member wannabes.
“That neighborhood (near the golf club) is not one that we’ve had many problems
with,” Lindmark said.
But police officials still take the graffiti seriously, as it could be gangs
marking their turf.
In Machesney Park, the racist markings at the mall are the latest in a string of
supremacist graffiti scrawled in the village, said Lt. Rocco Wagner, who heads
the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department’s satellite office there.
In the past week, swastikas and “UAN” — likely symbolizing the United Aryan
Nations — have appeared on property at Marquette School and on several buildings
near the mall.
“It’s all within walking distance ... so I am sure they are on foot,” Wagner
said. “And they are knucklehead kids.”
Staff writer Zack Creglow can be reached at 815-987-1376 or zcreglow@rrstar.com.